Jerry Dearinger, leader in behalf of 26 other Cedar Hills Citizens for Responsible Government (CHCRG) members who GRAMA requested city email & text records wrote to the City Manager on October 10th saying…
“Non-completion and/or erroneous fulfillment of Cedar Hills Citizens for Responsible Government’s April 9, 2014 GRAMA Request. Proper fulfillment requested.”
Sam Bushman & Tim Alder’s similar GRAMA request also send NOTICE to the City on October 8, 2014 regarding their GRAMA request’s “Non-completion and/or erroneous fulfillment”. (see PDF #1 below) A recent call to the Daily Herald confirmed that they too did not receive an accompanying letter of explanation as required by law.
Apparently the City has been following questionable advice regarding GRAMA law provided by City Attorney Eric Johnson, which according to the State’s expert — State Records Ombudsman Rosemary Cundiff — analysis of the City’s obligation under GRAMA law.
Also, on a related matter, Ken Cromar – researcher for CHCRG, who request for one-month of Mayor Gygi’s emails, also received a response, but also without proper accompanying explanation by the city. Cromar met with City Manager Bunker and encouraged him to seek advice and clarification on GRAMA law from State’s professional Ombudsman Rosemary Cundiff. (see PDF #2 below)
The following is Jerry Dearinger’s letter from CHCRG in behalf of the group and 26 request signers:
October 10, 2014
David Bunker
Chief Administrative Officer
10246 N. Canyon Road
Cedar Hills, UT 84062
SUBJECT: Non-completion and/or erroneous fulfillment of Cedar Hills Citizens for Responsible Government’s April 9, 2014 GRAMA Request. Proper fulfillment requested.
Dear Mr. Bunker,
First, may I offer my appreciation for the many good things you and the city staff do in behalf of me, my family and the good people of Cedar Hills. Thank you.
As you know, on April 9, 2014, 26-members of Cedar Hills Citizens for Responsible Government signed under my name a GRAMA Request for specific city business email and text public records. This request was similar, but not identical to that of the Daily Herald and Sam Bushman & Tim Aalder’s GRAMA Request.
Recently, I learned via the city attorney’s email to the mediation group and through an article in the Daily Herald that the fulfillment of our Requests was imminent. I learned that Mr. Bushman had received an email notification that his request was ready, but I did not. Later, I went to the City Office and learned that my GRAMA Request was fulfilled and ready for my pickup.
Upon review of the material, I realized the response disc is labeled “Daily Herald” and hence appears to be non-compliant and/or erroneously fulfilled for a number of reasons, the most significant of which is that the Herald reportedly agreed to narrow their request, while Cedar Hills Citizens for Responsible Government did not. There was no other documentation accompanying the disc.
One of the most important unresolved issues from the June 11th mediation meeting at the Highland Fire Station, was a clear understanding by all of what the City was agreeing to provide in the fulfillment of Cedar Hills Citizens for Responsible Government group and Sam Bushman’s GRAMA Request and our similar request. During the mediation the city attorney said email records which had been printed to paper before destruction were no longer electronic emails, and would not be provided. Mayor Gary Gygi disagreed with him and they debated that point in front of the group without resolution I could observe. Since then, the City Attorney concluded and insisted that “we all agreed” on what the City would provide, but I and others including Mr. Bushman did not agree, thus making the attorney’s position inaccurate.
Also, while the Daily Herald agreed to limit their GRAMA request, to my knowledge, none of the Cedar Hills Citizens for Responsible Government signers agreed to change our group’s request. Therefore, our GRAMA Request remains unchanged, different from the fulfillment the Daily Herald’s altered request, and therefore an accurately responsive fulfillment of our GRAMA Responsive would have to be substantively different than the Herald’s.
Additionally, according to Utah Code Section 63G-2-205 my understanding is that the City is required to provide a letter of explanation regarding any portion of a responsive GRAMA Request fulfillment that is withheld, and our legal options regarding appeal, to whom, timeframe, etc, and other legal alternatives. Such letter was not provided and/or the materials provided were erroneous and non-responsive to our April 9, 2014 GRAMA Request. Therefore, it is our position that our Cedar Hills Citizens for Responsible Government’s GRAMA Request has not been fulfilled as per GRAMA law.
In conclusion, as the Chief Administrative Officer for Cedar Hills responsible for such issues, may I respectfully invite you to send our GRAMA request with correct and accurate documentation as per State Code at your earliest convenience, so that our Cedar Hills Citizens for Responsible Government group may determine what our options are, please?
Respectfully,
Jerry Dearinger – GRAMA Request submitter & legal analyst for…
Cedar Hills Citizens for Responsible Government
4211 W. Manila Creek Drive
Cedar Hills UT 84062
Sam Bushman’s letter requesting proper GRAMA fulfillment — PDF #1 … Sam Bushman’s Oct. 8, 2014 letter to Bunker on erroneously fulfilled GRAMA request
Ken Cromar / CHCRG’s letter requesting proper GRAMA fulfillment — PDF #2 … CHCRG – Ken Cromar’s notice of City’s non-completion of GRAMA request